The Recordings Discovery
by A-Little-Bit-Of-Awesomeness
Summary: When Alex is combing through the first edition of 'Sheldon After Dark', she finds something quite unexpected. Shamy, with a tiny bit of Lenny. Inspired by the beginning of 6x08, T to be on the safe side.


**Author's Note: Whoa, Olivia writes sometimes that isn't obsessed with Leonard? *Leonard Impression* Whaaatt?**

**So, this is my first Shamy fanfiction and I'm hoping this is okay for a first try. It's much fluffier than my usual writing style, but I really enjoyed writing this so I'll definitely write something like this again soon.**

**Also, this is going to stay as a one-shot because I'll be continuing with Confessions of a Grad Student (this is completely unrelated to that story). Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, including the cover image.**

'_My boss is officially the weirdest person I have ever met'_, Alex thought as she plugged the USB into her computer. She was hardly exaggerating; yesterday Sheldon Cooper had given her an eight hour long recording of him asleep and told her to listen to all of it, in case he said anything in his sleep that could go towards his Nobel Prize. To make things even stranger, he had called it 'Sheldon After Dark'. '_What is going on with my life at the moment?' _The grad student slipped on her headphones and pressed play on the screen.

There was silence, except for some faint rustling, presumably of his quilt, that quickly stopped.

"Nnnnhhhh... umm..."

'_Okay, the only prize this is gonna win is the oddest idea award 2013'_, she thought bitterly. In less than an hour, she was meant to go over to his apartment and share her findings. Obviously in an hour she couldn't go through the entire recording without using time travel, but Alex wasn't planning to. She would just lie and say that she had been through it all. Lying was not something that she was accustomed to, particularly not to Sheldon, but listening to eight hours of this must classify as some kind of torture.

"No, Goofy... stop him, before he eats my sternum like its dog food... ah, that's better..."

_Ewww..._ The recordings went quiet for a couple of minutes. Exasperated, Alex threw her headphones down. _This is ridiculous, I'll just tell Dr Cooper that I'm not doing it. But, what if there's something amazing hidden in this that I'll miss if I give up looking? Alex Jensen doesn't give up._ Sighing heavily, she slid the headphones back on and continued the recordings.

"I told you the first time, Charlie Brown, this is a lemonade stand not a psychiatrist booth... mmmhhh... oh, Amy... what a vixen... Amy, I love you. Even more than I love monkeys, trains and math... or a monkey doing math on a train... I really love you..."

Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. She listened as the recordings went quiet again and she pressed the stop button on the laptop screen. Despite only knowing him since last October, she could tell that this was completely out of character for him. Alex doubted that her boss had ever told his girlfriend that he loves her, or even has feelings for her. If Amy is as devoted as Sheldon has told his assistant, Amy would do anything to hear those words, the words that Alex has just heard him say so naturally and freely.

Glancing at her watch, Alex realised that she had to start making her way to 4A. When Sheldon inevitably asks her about the recordings, what should she say? You talked about Goofy, Charlie Brown and how much you love your girlfriend, but other than that not much?

Alex was still pondering this as she climbed the stairs up to apartment 4A. She wasn't sure whether she should mention the confession or how to... but she was sure it would mean the world to Amy. What's a grad student to do? As she reached the fourth floor, she spotted Penny coming out of her apartment. Because of all the complications with Leonard that had happened recently, Alex immediately felt awkwardness fill the air even though they had both moved on. Or, that's what she thought.

"Hey, Penny," she smiled nervously.

"Hi. Going to see Leonard, are you?"

"No, no. You don't have to worry about that anymore, I'm with someone else now," Alex explained.

"Okay, good. But you look pretty deep in thought, what's up?" The waitress asked, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Oh, it's just that I found something a little weird on Sheldon After Dark," the assistant told her. _It can't do any harm to tell her that part, but I won't go into too much detail._

"Oh God, Sheldon was rambling on about that earlier. Eight hours of it, right? I really don't know how you met him and thought 'hey, he seems like a great person to work for'," Penny commented, smiling.

"I don't know either, to be honest. Probably his Intelligence Quotient that convinced me," Alex replied. Penny looked at her, slightly confused. "That's what IQ stands for."

"Ah, right. So come on, what was on the recordings that really got to you?"

"I can't really say. It was about Dr Cooper and his girlfriend."

"Sheldon and Amy! You have to tell me what he said about it! D'you have the recordings with you?"

"Yeah, on this USB but it's kind of confidential and besides, I should be in 4A by now."

"Pretty please, with cherries on top?" Penny asked, mimicking Leonard's puppy dog eyes.

"All right," she sighed, pulling the recordings out of her brown leather bag.

"Yes! Thanks, Alex, this is just what I needed today," the blonde grinned. She skipped back into her apartment with the USB in her hand and Alex following her. She closed the door and Penny grabbed her pink laptop. "You know, I'm meant to be over at Sheldon's place too. I'm having pizza with the guys."

"Oh, I know. It's Thursday; Dr Cooper orders pizza from Giacomo's with sausage, mushroom and light olives." Alex gingerly moved a bright blue bra and sat down next to her on the sofa.

"It's kinda sad you know that," Penny pointed out, typing her password into her laptop.

"It's kinda sad you know the entire Cheesecake Factory menu."

"Okay, I get the picture. Why does this thing take forever to load?" Penny leant towards the screen. "Um, hello, I'm trying to get some juicy gossip on the Shamy here."

"Shamy?"

"It's what I call Sheldon and Amy. They are so cute together, you have no idea! They're, like, my OTP," she explained, her green eyes shining.

"What?" Alex questioned as Penny drummed her fingertips on the wooden coffee table impatiently.

"One True Pairing, obviously. What rock have you been living under? Ooh, the things up, how far into the tape is it?"

"About six minutes in, I think," she answered, looking around at the random clothes scattered everywhere.

"Ah, I'm so excited! Okay, okay, here we go."

The recordings played Sheldon's love confession that bizarrely talked about monkeys and trains, but nevertheless it showed how he felt about Amy.

"That's it," Alex told her as the tape fell quiet.

"Aw, that was adorable! Oh my God, you know who would love to hear this?"

"Um, Dr Cooper? They're his recordings and I meant to be sharing my findings with him right now," she suggested, glancing over at the door.

"No; Amy! She's always the one telling him how she feels, but this is totally the other way round!" Penny exclaimed as she picked up her pink laptop and carried it over to the door.

"I'm not sure if we should tell her without Dr Cooper's permission."

"Whatever. You're going over to tell him what's on here anyway, it wouldn't hurt to let her know that he loves her."

"Wait a second," Alex pleaded.

She hurried after Penny who was striding towards Sheldon's apartment. Without knocking, Penny opened the door and entered the apartment. Howard and Bernadette, Sheldon and Amy, and finally Leonard and Raj were all there eating take-out, as Penny had suggested.

"Everyone, we have something that might interest you. 'Specially, you, Amy," Penny announced eagerly.

"Yay! Thanks, bestie," Amy grinned from the armchair. "Is it the talk that I was telling you about on..."

"No, better," Penny beamed, putting her laptop down on the table.

"Did Alex find something on the latest edition of Sheldon After Dark?" Sheldon asked, looking in surprise at Alex, who was leaning against the kitchen island. "You remember, Amy, the sleep recordings I was telling you about?"

"Indeed. How could I forget something that could lead towards your Nobel Prize?"

They shared a smile and Penny's excitement grew.

"Hold that thought, Sheldon, and have a listen to this."

"Mmmhhh... oh, Amy... what a vixen... Amy, I love you. Even more than I love monkeys, trains and math... or a monkey doing math on a train... I really love you..."

Penny stopped the recordings after a few seconds of silence, which continued anyway as Amy's eyes widened in realisation of what she had just heard.

"Sheldon..." There were so many things that she wanted to say, but nothing came out. She swallowed hard. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I was ready for college at age of eleven, but I guess I wasn't ready to tell you... that," Sheldon explained unusually nervously, taken aback by the situation.

"Yeah, that's totally a thing," Penny interrupted, facing Leonard.

"Can we do this somewhere else? I'm not in the mood for the absurd ebb and flow of their on-again off-again relationship," Sheldon suggested to his girlfriend.

"Affirmative," she agreed as she stood up abruptly. "Let's head to your bedroom."

"My room it is."

"I've been waiting to hear that for a while!"

Deep in thought, the couple made their way to Sheldon's room. Amy stood beside his bed, smoothing down her red cardigan with shaky hands. He closed the door firmly and turned to face her.

"Is it true?"

"I wasn't planning to tell you anytime s-"

"That wasn't what I asked," she interrupted, her eyes glistening with joyful tears.

"I know. I... well, uh... yes. I'm in love with you, Amy Farrah Fowler," he admitted, making eye-contact with her for the first time since the recording.

"Sheldon Cooper, I love you too," Amy responded. She let the tears fall freely now, much to Sheldon's confusion.

"You're upset. I'll make tea," he told her as he turned towards the door.

"No, I'm not upset. These are tears of happiness, not dismay." She attempted to wipe her eyes dry, but she was too emotional for it to make much difference.

"I don't understand how that's possible. I don't admit to being as expert on the subject of emotions as Louis Leakey is on the subject of anthropology, but I was taught that tears equal sadness."

"Not always. I can honestly say that this is the best thing that has ever happened to me," Amy replied softly.

"I believe this situation is also causing me to have a similar emotional response," Sheldon told her with a catch in his voice. To her surprise, his blue eyes sparkled with a hint of tears.

Amy wished she could give him a hug, but she knew that this situation was already looking at his comfort zone in the rearview mirror. Instead, she gave him her most reassuring smile to show him that everything is fine. Talking about their feelings is not something that they are accustomed to, but she has to let him know how happy she is.

"Oh, Sheldon. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for honestly," Sheldon responded gently, calming down.

Their eyes met, and Amy was sure that he was going to kiss her for the first time. Sure, they had kissed before, but it was always initiated by her. Instead, Sheldon begun to make his way to the door, sneaking glances at his girlfriend as though wondering if he should do something. Amy didn't notice him looking back at her, because she was trying to take in what she had found out. He loves her! Still, there was a small part of her that wished it could have been followed up with a kiss.

Realising that he wasn't going to kiss her after all, she murmured, "he's never gonna kiss me." _I should be grateful for his confession, but I want more. What's wrong with me?_

What she didn't know was that Sheldon was considering whether to do just that.

He leaned in and kissed her passionately.

"I beg to differ."


End file.
